Media release 5th March 2009

Hawke’s Bay Hospitality Industry Gears Up To Recognise Industry Peers Once Again

The Hawke’s Bay Hospitality Awards 2009 are set to kick off with the nomination and voting process beginning in Mid March. Following the success of the inaugural event last year, the hospitality industry is already talking about the nominations for 2009. The objective of the Hawke’s Bay Hospitality Awards is to promote and lift the standards in Hawke’s Bay hospitality industry, as well as the profile of the finalists and sponsors involved in the Awards. Overseeing this process is a pro bono committee of some of the most knowledgeable in the Hawke’s Bay Hospitality industry.

Managed by Food Hawke’s Bay and supported by local branches of the Restaurant Association, Chefs Association, Hospitality Association and Hospitality Standards Institute, the awards are in recognition of the operators, workers, managers, suppliers and personalities that make up the Hawke’s Bay Hospitality Industry.

The Hawke’s Bay Hospitality Awards allow people in the industry to nominate and then vote in up to 14 categories for who they deem as being the ‘most outstanding’ in their field.

Jane Libby, General Manager of Food Hawke’s Bay says “we are delighted to once again present these awards in the Bay and are very excited about the hype this has already created in the industry. Following last years event, everyone in the industry really understands the process and is 100% behind it. The process has been designed so it is BY industry FOR industry”

Nomination forms will be distributed to the hospitality community in the week commencing 24th March 2009. The completed forms will be faxed or posted back to Food Hawke’s Bay where the results will be confidentially compiled and sorted. Finalists will be announced at the media launch on 20th April 2009. Voting for the awards will follow a similar process

Libby concludes “it is exciting to see the industry and the public get in behind these awards and offer recognition where it is due, in this tough economic climate it is even more important to recognize what the coalface of our industry are doing”

Categories in the nomination process are as follows:

• Outstanding Chef Outstanding Sales Rep
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• Outstanding Front of House Personality Outstanding Waitperson
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• Outstanding Bartender Outstanding Barista
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• Outstanding Cafe Outstanding Traditional Pub
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• Outstanding Restaurant Outstanding Supplier/Artisan Producer
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• Outstanding Bar Emerging Chef
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• Best Ambience/style Outstanding Hospitality Personality
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In their second year the Hawke’s Bay Hospitality Awards will take place at the Century Theatre for the awards, followed by the industry after party at the newly opened Ocean’s Café & Bar in Napier. Tickets for the night will be available from Food Hawke’s Bay after the media launch on 20th April and are for hospitality participants only.

Ends

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